Cable-power.



'CABLE POWER.' Ai'PILIoATIoN FILED APR. 22, wow

900,060. I Patented sept. 29, 190s,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 llll "l I lllllllilllllll 55 Z6 M llIllllllllillllllHllllll c. J. EASTMAN;

CABLE POWER.

lnnLIo'rIoN FILED 111111.22, 1901 900,060, l Patented Sept. ,29, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Pz'isns. Inc.. Llm.. wAsnmaron. D. c

- UNITED f sunrise' rArnNT OFFICE.

cLYn'E -Jl EASTMAN, or .Losl ANGELEs'CALIFoRNIA.

canna-POWER.

Letters Parent. Patented sept. 29, 190s. l

. t Appuaagasiea aan 22,1907.- ,serial No. 369,709,

To all whom may concern:

-Be itknownjthat I, CLYDE Angeles, in the. county'o Los Angeles `and.'

.State ofCalifornia, have invented new andjuseful Improvements in l CablefPow'er; I ofwhich the ollowing' is a specification.

"This inventionirelates topropulsion of'a-- car orrvehicle obtained by Ine-ans of a drum ca rried' on the car' o'r vehicle which has .at winding engagement v vith an inert cable.4 In

Aa previous'- patenti-of .mine No; 681,632 of ropelled back over the cable and' permit 'the' ont end of theartoalwayshe inthe lead when the car is? traveling over Athe#cable in `either direction, thusenblngfthe steeringto be easlly performed. g the 'atent re- :erred to,- the v`Iriachine i ispropelle forward 'in going over the cablein-one direction and the'machine is 1propelled!backward .in 'goin over'the cable inthe' opposite direction, and inthe reverse movement o f the machine the. lsteeringof the machinenis idificult of p'erformance; u Another object' is"to"provi'de means for maintaining that portiongof the cable which is inthe'car under a stead tension, so thatl thejcoils of 'cable on'they rums are kept in* lace and slippageor rearrangement of coils isavoided Referring tothe'` drawings -Figure 1 is a lan view of the machine; Fig', 2 is an en- 'ali .lvtheadj-acelitnportion -ofthe machine; FigLB-ls aseetion on lineasff-xs- Fig 2.: F1g. 4 .is aadia' rammatical view 'illustratlng' the circuit of t epower4 cable overv the drums and throughthe 'tension devices, -and illustrates the -tautconnection of thecable between the tension devices `andzdlums.'.u '5' is aplan view ofthe stay *cables and power "cable, showing thearrange'ment `tliereo as 1n prac,-v tical operation, the machinebeing shown dla-v .grammatically in position. In this view lthe v ngth of .the powercable Iis greatly 'reduced `to bring thest'aycables `into the'view; '-Fig`J Y6 is a sldeelevation of the' featurel shown 1n:

Fig. 5; Fig. 7 `is'an enlarged side elevation 'in detail of 'a coupling for the separable' links.-

` Referring to Fig.- 5,1` deslgnatesthe powe1;

ab1ea1ong-whreh the machine, about to be .ldescrib'ed'jis adapted to travel. The power .cablel'isgan-inert cable, fi. e", ithas `no a c tive linearmovement, but is capable of being Ymovedlaterally automatically to permit of paths, each end oi'` the cable 1 having atrol-` 1 ey 2; -Whichrides along itsassociated stay cable 3, there beinga stay cable arrangedat each end of the ield .atright 1an'gles'to the v general directionof the power cable 1. Eachy stay 2 is stretched between stakes 4.v In the drawings there are butt'wo stakes shown for each stay cable, butin ractice eachvend of the field will be provide with a series of permanent'stakes 4, so that the stay cables 3 can be shifted along to enable the operationl to vextend over' a 4Wide area of field without necessitatin the'employment of long staya cables, Whic otherwise would be requlred to "Stretch overthe eXtreme Width of the ieldv and would be liable to sag. Each stay cablel the machine traversing the iield in different is located, for example, about afoot from the ground. 5 designates the machinein general, which `is provided with power drums 6 and 7 over which th'e power cable is wound. Neareach A9, theelatter being located at the front end of the machine, but both' tension devices are 'so that the enlargement .in the cable, formed.' ar ed end elevation vof onet'ension. device ltension devices and drums along the cable.v

Thelength of the link 10 .is somewhat greater than the linear length of the cable re-l ui'retl to pass through the circuit in the ma? ghine from one tension device` around the drums to the other tension device, so 'that when the machine is wholly on a link 10, as 'indicated'in dotted lines'in Fig. 5, no part of the 'main portion of the power cable 1' isin engagementwith the machine. With the lmachine in this position, by uncouplmg the 'lin k.10"at both ends the Amachine maybe headedin the other rection ready to traverse Athe field again, the reversed link having first been coupled into place in the power cable` ,It

'end of the' machine are tension devices 8 and 'y turned? around; carrying the` link .with it and will be seen that tins reature enables the inachine to be propelled head on when traversing the field in eit-lier direction, the separable links permittingr the machine to be readily turned around and obviat-ing` the rearward propulsion of the machine in which steering is dithcult. or the alternative 'of swinging the entire power cable around end for end as the machine is turned aroundx which reversal of the entire power cable would be impracticable'and consume muCh't-ime.

It will be'noted fom'Fig. 6 that the vportion of theable whichis in front of the inachine is under tension, as the machine nieves -ta-ut on account of the w-*eightot the cable,

but as the machine approaches the stay ca*l l"ble and the intermediate part of the power c-able which is under tensionbecomes s'horter,

lessot it willl rest on the ground. and when thel machine approaches sutliciently close to the stay cable, as indicated in Fig. the tension will be sufficient to litt the cable clear medium of its rear wheels .15, if desired. theA ot the ground.

The machine is steered independently ot' the power cable, not being restricted to follow anl absolutely straight line, and when the machine is steered-to the right or left of-.the line of the powercable it will resu'lt in gradually swinging the head portion of the power cable laterally, the trolley of that? section sliding alongthe stay cable. This rolling action of the trolley may no t take `place for a slight deviation of the` machine where there is a long length of cable between the trolley andthe machine, but when the tension between the trolley and cable is sutlicient andf-when thedeviation of the machine is suilicient-ly great' the trolley will shift automatically. ln all'cases. however.

n l n the machine can be steered within a wide latitude. the trolle) permitting the'cable to automatically shift to suit the position of the machine. 1 l XYhile only two links have been shown.

one being arranged at 'each end of the ield. it

is obvious that other-'similar links may be inserted iii the power cable at variouspoints which will enable the machine to be turned' around at points other than at the extreme ends of the tield. In fact the entire powercable might consist of these links tol enable the machine to be reversed at practically any point on the power cable, one of 'the inain'objects in reversing the machine beingl to facilitate the steering. Referring to Fig. 1..`13 designates the frame ofV thefinachine equipped. Awith front wheels 14- and iearfwlieels 1.3 suitablymounted. The drums 6. and 7 are provided with grooves ."around which the cable 'is wound,- and each drum has-a gear 16 which meshes with a pinion 17 on theshaft 18m'- ranged transversely of the car.' The Ashaft. 1S carries apair ofbevel gears 19 and 2Q,

feit-hei' of which isadaptedto niesh with a driving pinion 21 niountedon a shaft 22 and connected by a clutch 23 with the engine 24. 25 is a lever for controlling the clutch 23, wherebythe shaft 22 may be driven from the engine or the engine allowed to run without driving the saine.' When the gear 19 is in mesh with gear 217 the drums 6 and 7 are operated through the'medium of-geais' 16 .and pinion 1.7, and the machine is propelled alongv the powercable 1-. f vThe shaft' 18 m'a be. shifted to throwthe-gear 20 into 'mes with pinion 21 by means of a lever 26 which operates a head 27, in whichthe end 'of the shaft 18 revolves, and when gear `20 meshes with inion 21 the drums and T are revolve in opposite directions and will propel theniachme backwarth althoughsuch oper' ation is notordinarily employed when utilizg ing the power cable, but is useful lat .ot-hertimes inturning the machine around.. 'as will be seen.

The machine may be driven through the latter having sprockets 30 which are connectedv by chains 31 with sprockets 3'." on -a counter-shaft 33. the latter being. divided and having a ditl'erential gear 34, the difter- -ential gear havinga sprocket 3 5' which is.

c'onnected'by a chain 36. with a smallersprocket '3T mounted loosely on the shaft 18. The sprocket 3T is adapted to be engaged by a clutch 3S formed on sleeve 2S,; the

sleeve also carrying pinion 1T,4 and o erating hand llever 39 the 'clutchBS may shifted to engage with sprocket 37 to cause the-sprocket to rotate with shaft' V15%, the hand lever 39- being connected by link 4() with a VJforked arm 4l which engages a groovedcollar 4'2 -splined on shaft 18.

`'lien the clutch BSis thus shifted. 'the pinion 1T -is drawn out of' i'ncsli with Ueaisl.

In orderto guide the cable to and iront the drums 6 and 'i and to keep the cable under -proper tension and in place thereon, the Triction devices S and?) are employed. `These are shown in detail in Figs. 'Land il. Projecting down from each end of the traine lli` is a pair of ali-nis 45, each of which has a stal'pou each shaft.- horizontal roller tionary verticalshai't 46. 46 is an idle'rollerAT.' 4S. (see l" ig. 3) is arranged below and in front -ot .the lower ends/of rollers 4T, while roller 49 is located back of the roller 4e and belowf4 the lower Yends of rollers 4T. The cable l is guided between the-rollers-4T. and the rollers 4S andf-lJ Servet-o lifty the cable .to the rollers 4T. the roller 48 particularly coming into 'play in dropping the cable at the rear of `the machine, as shown iniFig'. -or when picking)- up a slacky ca'ble infront, after starting.

l 52 being ,mounted in blxocks slidable in arms 50, the

each other,bothA shafts alsocar ing flanged -rollers `54: between whichy the 'ca ,the cable being under pressure between the. two rollers by meansl of the lower; rollers being yieldingly pressed forward, the` shaft 55 which are underneath the blocks 55," and the tension oi. the `springs being regulated by an adjusting screw 57. .Each shaft 51 carries a sprocket 58 which is connected by a chain 59 with a sprocket 60 mounted on a stub shaft 61 sup-A ported by a bracket 62. tates with the "sprocket 60. Each 'drum shaft has `a-sprocket 64 andthe sprocketsof the respective drums are connected byl chains 65 with the respective sprockets 63. 4The Y rollers 54-are thus positively driven and at a s eed slightly diierential to the cable, so that t e cable is under constant tension between the tension devices and drums, and the slip I driving the drums,

. permitting the carriage to be turned around..

` gaging the tensin 'between Ithe cable and tension rollers being extremely slight but just su'ilicient to produce this taut condition of the cable.v

What I claim -i's :4- y

1. In a cable powerfapparatus, a carriage, one or more drums on the carriage,means for a cable wound over the drums, and a detachable section in the cable without turning around `the whole cable or disen agin'g it from the drums. n

2. a cable power apparatus, a carria e,

`one or moredrun'is on the carriage, means or driving the drums,- a cable wound 4ove'r the drums, anda detachable section in the cable having a length at least as great as the linear circuit of the cable through the carriage.

In a cable'power apparatus, a carriage, cable engaging mechanism 'on the carriage including one or more drums and tension devices,

section in the cable having a length' at least as great as ,the linear circuit of the cable "wound over the' drums, means for le 1 passes,

e being springs '56 A sprocket 63 rovice for a cable, combined with a ca l 1n three sections, the end sections being made a cablewound over the drums and en-I devices, and a detachable throughY the cable engaging mechanism on y p the carriage. A pair ,of 4vertical arms ,50 are arranged back of, thejarms 45, and 4niounted'inarines 5i)v is an upper shaft 51 anda lower shaft 52, each `shaft having gears 53 which are ,in mesh with 4. '.In a cable power apparatus, a carriage, one or more drums'on the carriage, a ca le driving the drums to propel the carriage along the cable, and relatively, short sections detachably connected in the cable nearboth ends of the cable.V

5. In a c'ableip'ower apparatus, acarriage one or more drums onpthe, carria' e, -acable woundv over the drums, means or driving said drums to propel the carriage along the cable, tension devices on theic'arriage, and means for driving the tension devices to keep the cable taut between the tension devices and drums.

6. In a cable power apparatus, a carriage, one or more drums on the carriage, a cable" wound over the drums, means for driving the drums to propelthe carriage along the cable, tension devices on the carriage, eachtension device lcomprising a pair of rollers between which the cable passessnugly, and means for driving'the rollers at a speed which holds the cable taut between each tension device and drums. A p

7. In a cable 'power apparatus, 'a' carriage,

one or more drums on the carriage, a cable, wound.. over the drums, 'means for driving the drums 'to propel the carriage along the cable, tension devices on the carriage, each tension device comprising a pair 0I rollers between which the cable passes, means for yieldingly pressing one roller toward theother to cause the rollersto bear strongly against the cable, and means for positively driving, the rollers' to keep between each tension device and drains.

8. A traction engine having a gripping de4 e made long enoufh to extend through 'theengine and provided with coupliilivs.

the cable-:f taut.

In testimony whereof, have hereunto set imy hand at Los Ange 16th day of April, 1907.

CLYDE J. In presence of#- GEORGE T. HACKLEY,

' FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

ESTMAX.'

es, California, this 

